Baptized as a child; Aaronic Priesthood as a youth; Melchizedek Priesthood as a young man

Missionary to Southeastern Mexican Mission 1967-1969

Married Rhonda Lee Patten 1969 Salt Lake Temple; eight children

Counselor to Bishop; Stake Young Men President; High Councilor; Stake President; Area Authority

President of Uruguay Mission 1988-1991

First Quorum of Seventy 2005-present

Elder C. Scott Grow was born to Cecil Wood Grow and Elsie May Lee Grow on May 5, 1948, in Moscow, Idaho. He was raised in Boise, Idaho, and resided in Meridian, Idaho. He graduated from Brigham Young University in accounting and worked with major accounting and business consulting firms before establishing his own accounting partnership.

Sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy April 2, 2005, Elder Grow could look back on his life and see a chain of experiences and the influence of numerous spiritual leaders that, through their example, taught him the lessons he would now draw upon.

His father, for example, never left on vacation without completing his Church assignments as a ward or stake clerk or bishopric member.

"We would always stop by the ward meetinghouse and Mom and I would sit in the car up to an hour at a time, waiting while Dad would do his Church work."

Raised in Boise, Idaho, Elder Grow was almost 8 years old before the first of his three younger brothers was born. Because of the age difference, he was an only child for much of his early youth.

"Mom spent a lot of time with me," he said, recalling hours at the Boise train depot and park. "I remember years of doing dishes with Mom. She would always wash. I would always dry and we would just talk."

Elder Grow first recalled, while attending Junior Sunday School, knowing Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. "It didn't seem strange at all to me that God would speak to a 14-year-old boy," he said. Elder Grow said his testimony began to blossom as a seven-year-old. While singing “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” (Hymns, no. 26), he received a witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He also read the Book of Mormon for the first time as a child.

Since that time Elder Grow’s understanding of gospel doctrine has flourished, strengthening his testimony and giving him a firm foundation. “I have never had any doubt that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer,” Elder Grow said.

But his true youthful loves were track and cross country; he would later participate in both as a student at Brigham Young University.

However, Elder Grow contracted typhoid and hepatitis while serving in the Southeast Mexico Mission from 1967 to 1969 and did not pick up the sports after his return home.

It was on his mission that he learned to be "more outgoing" and to "relate to those with a background different than mine."

He also saw the hand of the Lord directing and building His earthly kingdom. On one occasion, while serving in Veracruz, Mexico, Elder Grow and his companion met a "family that said they had been praying for several days for God to send His representatives to them." The missionaries taught and baptized every member of the family, except a 7-year-old daughter named Leticia.

Elder Grow promised the little girl, who was not old enough to join her family in baptism, that if he ever had a daughter, he would name her Leticia.

Upon his return from Mexico, Elder Grow married his sweetheart, Rhonda Lee Patten, in the Salt Lake Temple. The two — although from different towns and attending different universities — had shared a "romance of writing" for more than three years. They did not postpone starting a family and named their first child, a girl, Leticia.

Elder Grow worked as a certified public accountant and served in numerous Church callings as the family grew to include eight children. The family settled in Meridian, Idaho, and spent free time hiking and skiing. "Our kids would say that we mostly worked," said Sister Grow.

Although they were both raised in the city, the couple followed advice given to them by Elder L. Aldin Porter (then a regional representative). They built a home on a five-acre (two-ha) property where they could raise horses, cows, chickens, and sheep in order to help their children cultivate an appreciation for work. The children had the responsibility to water animals and move irrigation pipes. "We weren't very good farmers," Sister Grow explained.

And when Elder Grow was called, at the age of 39, as president of the Uruguay Montevideo Mission, Elder and Sister Grow packed 26 pieces of luggage and moved their children — ages 2 to 17 — and the family's dog to Uruguay.

The experience was one of the family's best, as the children learned Spanish and participated in missionary work.

"I think we are very ordinary," said Sister Grow of her family. "I think we relate to people who are very common, because we are from Idaho. We are simple people, really."

"We are not highly educated, not sophisticated, not wealthy," added Elder Grow.
Considering that, they say, they are grateful for all of their life's rich experiences.

Elder Grow, who was called as an Area Authority in 1995, "lived the history of that position." He would later become one of only two Area Authorities at the time to serve as an area president.

As a new General Authority, Elder Grow looked forward to the opportunity to perform the marriage of his youngest daughter, Rachel, to Boyd Law on May 7, 2005 in the Boise Idaho Temple.

Elder Grow also looked forward to numerous other opportunities, eager to serve the Lord.

"He has an unusual gift of enthusiasm and optimism," said Sister Grow. "It is nice to live with someone who is so positive."

Before his recent call to full-time Church service, Elder Grow served as an Area Seventy and as President of the Idaho Area. He also served as counselor in the North America Northwest Area Presidency, stake president, counselor in two stake presidencies, mission president, high councilor, stake Young Men president, bishop’s counselor, and full-time missionary in the Southeast Mexico Mission.

Bibliography
"C. Scott Grow Biography," Church News Archives April 30, 2005
"Spiritual Leaders Set Example He Follows," Church News Archives April 30, 2005
"News of the Church: C.Scott Grow of the Seventy." The Ensign,